Merchants Bank of Indiana is headquartered in Carmel and is the 3rd largest bank in the state of Indiana. It is also the 166th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 1923 and as of March of 2021, it had grown to 390 employees at 6 locations. Merchants Bank of Indiana's money market rates are 70% higher than the national average, and it boasts an A+ health rating.
5 Stars NO Problems & A Human Touch!
A former and satisfied Marcus and CIT account holder who's had ZERO problems with either of them (but, couldn't get an SFGI account opened after 3 attempts last month) but, the .55% APY rate (and dropping!) is just to low to accept with an almost 6 digit balance; All I can say: my MBoI opening went "perfect" for their 1% money market; applied online Saturday, 1 biz day later (Monday) I got a CALL from a human, who led me through "the process", I checked next day, the trial deposits showed, I confirmed online and then the ACH withdraw a day after, all in all took 3 days from start to finish opening the account. (The linking of accounts for ACH will take another 2 days though - see below). I also called today, just one ring, on a Friday afternoon no less, I got a human with a name (a manager !) for my account number etc., and opened my online portal. So far, no issues, the online app worked as described though it was a bit slow and the account description says "checking" even though it's the 1% "Money Market", (but, it worked), and MB clerks and manager were personable, On three calls they answered the phone fast and were VERY polite! Answers of same questions by different reps were consistent. The online system is a bit "clunky feeling" and "overprotective" of information but, it links your accounts elsewhere, has free bill pay, et all, etc., and does seem to work ok. Lotta features on the site, it appears anyway this is a VERY good bank for your FULL banking business: checking, credit cards, savings, bill pay, loans, Waiver of ATM fees, etc., (The human touch - fast and personable has been admirable) et all if one was inclined to switch and didn't want a Credit Union or a monster mega bank! I'm only looking for a high(er) interest account to park "liquid savings" of $50-$100K (outside my CD ladder) without the xfer limits, call hold times, special rules, et all etc., (they say to call or email for any amount over $5K ACH from the MoIB site and an external ACH linked account can be any amount and works fine), hassles and other problems of Vio, Regions Bank, Ally, "fintechs", etc., all the other problematic online banks that I read about on this board. All seems excellent, so far so good! My ACH external test xfers were also not a problem (My "Bank": First Command Bank, Fort Worth, TX has THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE, and my ACH From FCB to MBoI was flawless!) and $22K and $50K~ xfers went and were available overnight to Merchants. On the negative side, you should expect from opening online to setting up/linking a transfer account for an ACH xaction on the site with MBoI to be completed that the "process" will take a week. I also recently called for a PoD on the account "No problem". :) Paperwork was emailed in minutes and printed for hardcopy to return. (Be nice if it could be accomplished online though :) Thus 5 star ratings with a drop to 4 for the online system describing the account as checking and the fact of having to call for PoD and not completing online, and limits of internal ACH over $5K and not a direct online email portal (though it's easy to find/lookup). Nice folks too at MBoI!
Account Opening
I am sharing my experience in setting up a Money Market Account at Merchants Bank of Indiana.
I attempted to complete the online application multiple times yesterday and was unable to get past the step where I entered my personal information. Finally, I received a popup saying to contact the bank.
This morning, I called the Carmel Midtown branch and spoke with Cathy. She suggested that I try completing the online application without specifying I wanted a joint account. This did not work, so I called her back and she sent me a secure message with profile forms to complete. We completed the profile forms and attached copies of our drivers’ licenses, and sent back via secure message.
Within a few hours, I received a call from Madison. Madison apologized for the misinformation I had received from the branch office, and explained that my application had not processed because of a problem with my license information. Also, that the application had to be completed online and that I must wait 48 hours before trying again. Madison had to put me on hold, but Jessica came on the phone to help me. It was agreed that I could call in two days and either Madison or Jessica would attempt to walk me through the online application.
After my conversation with Madison and Jessica, I sent an email to Cathy asking that she forward the information I had sent her to Madison and Jessica. I received a prompt email reply saying that she would take care of it.
I was set to wait two days to setup the account, but I got a voice mail from Cathy saying that Matt would be sending me emails that would provide a link to sign the account application using DocuSign. Shortly thereafter we received two emails from Matt, and my wife and I provided our electronic signatures.
I sent an email to Matt and he called me to confirm the account had been setup. On the same day I first called them.
While it would have been nice to just submit the online application and have the account setup, I was delighted to see that there were real people at Merchants Bank of Indiana that cared about helping me.
If I find out any additional information worth sharing as I get things setup, I will share in a future post.
Interesting New Product From Merchants Bank Of Indiana
I got an email from them describing a product called Insured Cash Sweep where they will place any funds on deposit that exceed your FDIC/NCUA insurance limits with them at other insured FIs but you get the same yield as at Merchants, currently 0.75% for Money Market. Theoretically operates like a single account but with effectively higher insurance limits.
I'm trying to understand the fine print.
Merchants Pulls The Plug On Originating External Transfers
The yield on Merchants' Money Market, recently lowered from 1% APY, remains (at least for now) at .75% APY.
But they have suddenly -- very suddenly, without any warning -- discontinued originating eternal transactions. In practice, they have just deleted ALL my ACH links on their site!
Could this be a way to retain cash, by attempting to stem the tide of outflow? Who knows, but here's Merchants' story, via email to me, within the past hour:
Policy and procedures with the Money Market Accounts are being changed, since this is a regulated "Savings Account", we no longer can offer external transfers, bill pay, debit cards or ACH origination. I can get you checks if you would like, and we will wire funds without a charge when you need to move funds to another financial institution. But we can only receive funds into the account if you either do a wire or initiate an ACH transfer from the other financial institution.
Data as of Q1 2021
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 8056 |
| Year Established | 1923 |
| Employees | 390 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 2.62% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 28.92% |
| Annual Interest Income | $77.4MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $9.45B$7.69B |
| Loans | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $8.67B$6.58B |
| Deposits | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $7.92B$6.55B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $922.1MM$652.7MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $28.4MM$18.4MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $3.9MM$11.0MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2021vs Q1 2020 | $0$144.00K |